Game Review: The Crew

For reasons known only to themselves, there are large groups of well-heeled, mostly-young things that drive recklessly through urban and farmland areas of North America getting angry when some out-of-towner comes into their patch and drives faster.

It’s a bit like the vehicular version of West Side story.

Anyway, in The Crew you play the part of a Alex Taylor (a look-alike of Breaking Bad’s Walter White), who is framed for the murder of his own brother and then released after five years to help the police track down the corrupt cop who put you away, as well as his fast-driving crime buddies.

It is an illogical story line that attempts to permeate throughout the game, but ultimately The Crew is about hooking up with buddies or randoms or simply forging your own path through the 20 or so hours of missions, or exploring the countryside doing side-tasks.

And there is a lot of countryside to explore:  It will take you some 45 minutes to race across the breadth of the USA. Along the way there are plenty of distractions – whether it is your radar going off because there is a Data Station (satellite dish) to connect with to open up the area more, or perhaps locate a hidden collectable hot-rod part.

Or you could be diverted by one of the many driving challenges that litter the highways. Just drive through the initial gate and the challenge – be it slalom, ramp jump, speed and/or accuracy — is on.

It is a joy to motor through iconic USA locations.  The Vegas surrounds are suitably canyon-esque; head into Washington or New York and suddenly there is a preponderance of yellow cabs and school buses. Push through the midlands and you are just as likely to crest a hill and be confronted by a herd of cattle stampeding across the road.

Car choice is handled interestingly in The Crew. Essentially your starting choices are (appropriately enough) mostly American muscle. You can customise the appearance and then head out into “free roam” looking for things to do.

Completing races and other challenges earns parts for your car. Generally these will boost its performance — be it handling, braking, speed or acceleration. This turns The Crew into a kind of on-wheels role-play game normally associated with sword and sorcery titles.

It is also a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game where players all around the world inhabit the game environment. While we did not have the greatest success with this feature, you can join Crews as well as Factions, allowing real players to join your events and races to add more challenge to the otherwise lack-lustre AI you normally compete against.

Faction play is straight multiplayer — either as faction versus faction or in cooperation events against the game.

There is a lot going on here, and in fact it takes some getting used to. The first 30 minutes of the game you will be itching to get into the action, but The Crew’s story line takes a few cinematics to set up.

There are day/night cycles and radio stations to explore, police to avoid or evade, perks to assign, and new cars to purchase, though this last part seems somewhat unnecessary most of the time.  

Your car will get new fit-outs from time to time and for certain events (off-road, for example) you will be given a temporary appropriate car. And with the way parts are earned and stored at your HQ you certainly can get deep into having a garage full of personalised vehicles.

The Crew takes a while to warm to in the Ubisoft way. Those of you that have played Assassins’ Creed, Watchdogs or Farcry will know how Ubisoft opens its world games, but once you are in the groove — and in particular if you can hook up with a 'crew' of friends — then this game comes into its own.

It is certainly on the action-arcade end of the driving physics scale, but each car has a customisable interior for those that like to drive from the cockpit view. That's difficult in this game though, and handling characteristics vary between classes and car fit-out, with off-road vehicles being just too floaty for our liking.

Enjoyment wise, The Crew still ranks a little below the excellent Forza Horizon 2 on Xbox One, but if you own a PS4 your choices are a bit more limited. DriveClub has proven to be a disaster for Sony, and because it hits many of the beats mentioned above (when it works), we'd opt for The Crew given the choice.

If your gaming platform of choice is the PC, then you have a great deal more choice, but The Crew is something different and worth checking out — if something different is indeed what you are searching for.